One of the most basic concepts of Tantra is Oneness. According to Tantra, the world is not divided by race, religion, culture, class, nationality or any other boundaries. The world is One. Tantra sees a unique Oneness deep within the duality that appears on the outer plane of everything. The good and the bad are the different sides of the same coin. So is the higher and the lower planes. And dark and light, day and night and God and Devil, male and female. The higher plane includes the lower plane and vice-versa. There is god sleeping deep within the devil and the darkness is awaiting for the light to enter and illuminate itself. Tantra is all about recognizing this unique Oneness in these apparent duality and to realize the truth that You are All and You are pure consciousness.
Tantra teaches you to be devoid of distinctions and differences. It is where the subject and the object merge into One – our center, our very basic natural state, our deepest core. Once you stop identifying yourself with anything – neither happiness nor sadness, neither darkness nor light, neither male nor female, neither pleasure nor pain – and be a witness of all the realities that you are none of these dualities created by your own mind, but You are All of that, An Absolute Oneness, you become more intuitive, joyful, graceful and creative. Such a state is called “Paramananda” (परमानन्द) – Supreme Joy or bliss. In such a state of self awareness, all the dualities in you disappears and you become One with your soul.
In Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna tells Arjuna:
yam hi na vyathayanty ete purusham purusharshabha
sama duhkha sukham dhiram so ‘mritatvaya kalpate
(यं हि न व्यथयन्थेते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ।
समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽम्रुतत्वाय कल्पते॥) – Gita 2-15
‘O the noblest of men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed either by happiness or distress and is wise enough to be equipoised in both is certainly eligible for liberation’.
Gita confirms the Tantric belief that you are neither your happiness nor your distress, neither your pain nor your pleasure. You are not your ego. And You are not your mind or your body. But You are All, an Absolute Oneness, the Pure Consciousness. This shift of self awareness strips away all your preconceived notions about people, things, your emotions, etc. and you realize that, all these dualities are simply the projections of your own mind – “Maya” (माय – illusions). This shift of self awareness from Many to the True reality that All are One will lead you to Paramananda – Supreme Joy and liberation.
We must understand that all divisions and distinctions that we experience are created by our own mind. The basic principles of the mind is duality. We are taught from our childhood that, if we want to experience pleasure, we must know pain, to know compassion, we need to know anger, so on and so forth. All the troubles and miseries arise from our [mis]identification with this apparent duality conceived by our mind through years of conditioning.
Gita says,
bandhur atmatmanas tasya yenatmaivatmana jitah
anatmanas tu satrutve vartetatmaiva satru-vat
(बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः।
अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्ततात्मैव शत्रुवत्॥) – Gita 6-6
‘For someone who has conquered the mind, the mind becomes the best friend; but for one who has failed to do so, the very same mind will be his greatest enemy’.
Gita speaks about the importance of controlling the mind and compares it to the best friend and to the greatest enemy. By comparing so, Gita clearly shows that, You are not your mind, but the mind is a separate entity from your Self. Once you realize that truth and that all the differences your mind conceive in this world gradually merge into One ultimate reality, you experience a divine Oneness – that You Are All.
suhrn mitraryudasina madhyastha dvesya bandhusu
sadhusv api ca papesu sama buddhir visisyate
(सुह्रन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु।
साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्दिर्विशिष्यते॥) – Gita – 6-9
‘A person with spiritual intelligence treats honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all equally’.
Tantra, similar to Sanatana Dharma, teaches you to be neutral to all earthly dualities of life as they are the creation of your own mind and to stop identifying yourself with either end but to be at the center of your being – your core. It teaches you to be a witness of both your mind and the body. Tantra teaches you to experience living as Whole and realize the Absolute Oneness in every living beings for a perfect living experience.